Coach Christy Johnson-Lynch gave her team a tough spring schedule this year, and it is about to get even more rigorous.

This weekend, the Cyclones take on an Illinois team that went to the national championship last season, and the coach said everything must improve from last week.

“Every contact we have has got to be better than we had this past weekend,” Johnson-Lynch said. “I think we’ve got to, especially our upperclassmen, be a little tougher and play with a little more drive.”

The match-up comes after the Cyclones went 1-1 against NDSU and Creighton last weekend in Omaha, Neb.

Johnson-Lynch was not able to attend the doubleheader due to a recruiting trip but after watching tape on the matches, she said they would be working on a lot of the little things in practice this week.

“Serve and pass; making sure we handle the ball and serve tough when we have the opportunity,” she said.

The Illinois team finished with over 100 more blocks than their opponents last season while on their way to the second-place finish. Blocking was another deficiency Johnson-Lynch noticed in the team’s games last weekend, and freshman outside hitter Victoria Hurtt said they will work on that this week as well.

“Just reading the block and trying to use the block better when we’re hitting and playing defense well,” Hurtt said.

Senior middle-blocker Jamie Straube led the team with a pair of solo blocks against Creighton on Saturday.

She said blocking has been one of her focuses for the spring season, and it is something she believes can really elevate her game.

“I just want to keep improving on that; I think that’s somewhere where I can have a lot of improvement,” Straube said. “To have some good blocks last weekend gives me a little more confidence, a little more motivation, to keep improving on that.”

The national championship appearance was the first in school history for Illinois. While the team lost its top two kill leaders from last season, the majority of the team returns, but Straube says they look at it as more of an opportunity than anything else.

Illinois committed just 632 errors on the attack as opposed to 884 by opponents in 2011. Not beating themselves up is one way the team was able to climb to the top, and Hurtt says it is one of the Illini’s biggest strengths.

“I think they work hard every play and they communicate with each other very well,” she said.

Fixing the little things and fundamentals are two obstacles keeping the Cyclones from reaching their potential.

However, volleyball is one sport where everything is intertwined because without a good set, there is no kill. Once one part starts to click, Straube believes the rest will fall into place.

“I think so much of our style of play depends on serving and passing so if we can keep our serving and passing consistent, then we can play defense, we can block and dig and all that stuff,” she said. “But if we can keep the ball in play and put up a good pass for our setter, we’ll be right up there.”

First serve begins at 2 p.m. Saturday at Bettendorf High School in Bettendorf, Iowa.